Everyone Has A Plan
by Prosperina
Summary: Haley resigned herself to the fact that Christmas had been hijacked. NH
1. Chapter 1

**EVERYONE HAS A PLAN**

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_**Rating:**_ PG-13  
_**Characters:**_ Nathan/Haley  
_**Summary:**_ Haley resigned herself to the fact that Christmas had been hijacked.  
_**Disclaimer:**_ All recognizable characters from One Tree Hill belong to Mark Schwahn & co.

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_**Part One**_

This is how Haley James was going to spend Christmas Eve:

First, she was going to wake up at midday – a luxury had not been able to afford since the previous Christmas Eve. Then, at approximately 1pm, she would go to the corner shop and buy herself a turkey sandwich, and spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on next semester's readings; as a teacher she found it was always important to know just a little bit more than her students. She would have _chow mein_ for dinner, and then watch _Seinfeld_ to her heart's content (or until 12am).

Haley has planned this day down the minute since November.

The plan did _not _include her cousin, Brooke Davis, barging into her apartment at the crack of dawn.

"Rise and shine!" Brooke sang as she drew back the curtains.

"Brooke?" Haley mumbled from underneath the covers. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You gave me an emergency key, remember?"

"…And what's the emergency?"

"Well," Brooke said, "you have a difficult decision to make. Will you be wearing the black dress or the red dress to the Scott's Christmas dinner? I like the red myself, but I know you like to do the whole classic look…"

Brooke swiftly pulled back the covers without disregard to what Haley may or may not have been wearing, but luckily Haley was fully covered in Snoopy pajamas. Pulling the covers off a sleeping Brooke, however, was not a move Haley would have attempted.

"Uh, Christmas dinner? At your boyfriend's parent's place? Why would I be going to that?"

"Because you're invited, of course! When I told Karen that my favorite cousin would be spending Christmas alone because your family are out of the country, Karen insisted that you come."

"I really don't mind, Brooke, I've actually got a really busy day ahead…"

"Now, Haley, I know you're trying to be all non-intrusive and all, but I could never forgive myself if you had to spend this Christmas alone."

This is where alarm bells should have started ringing. '_Favorite cousin_'? '_Never forgive myself_'? Haley loved her cousin dearly, but these were not words Brooke sprouted everyday. Perhaps it was the cold, or the lack of sleep, or the idea of her carefully planned-out day slowly slipping away, but instead of hearing alarm bells, Haley merely resigned herself to the fact that Christmas Eve had been hijacked.

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_**to be continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2

**EVERYONE HAS A PLAN**

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_**Part Two**_

This is how Haley James was going to spend Christmas Eve… according to Brooke Davis:

First, she was going to wear a fabulous dress and four-inch heels. She was going to walk into the Scott mansion and trip right into Nathan Scott's arms. Then they would fall madly in love.

Lucas snorted. "Cheery, I love you, but that is a ridiculous plan."

Brooke put her hands on her hips. "Have you ever _seen _Haley walk in heels?"

"I meant the part about them falling madly in love."

"Hey, you were the one who thought they'd make a perfect couple! Your cousin… my cousin… a perfect match!"

Lucas shook his head. "Yeah, but I thought we'd just introduce them or something, not push them together… literally. Besides, how are you going to get her in heels anyway?"

"Broody, you have no faith." Brooke smiled slyly. "I have my ways…"

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_**to be continued...**_


	3. Chapter 3

**EVERYONE HAS A PLAN**

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_**Part Three**_

For the third time in ten minutes, Haley wondered what on earth has possessed her to allow Brooke to choose her clothes. If it were the middle of summer it would be another thing, but as she walked from Lucas's car to the house, she swore she could feel windburn on her ass.

Before they'd even reached the stairs, the front door swung open and a little dark-haired girl flung herself at Lucas.

"Luke!" She said. "Where is the present my _bestest_ big brother brought for me?"

Lucas laughed. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Elise. And you'll get your present the same time you'll get all your other presents: tomorrow morning."

Haley deduced that Elise was Lucas's adorably bratty sister that Brooke sometimes spoke about. Apparently, she and Brooke got along fabulously.

Elise's pout turned into a curious smile, and then quickly back into a very pronounced pout when she spotted Haley. "You're Brooke's cousin," she said sourly. "Now that you're here, I'm not allowed to sit next to—"

The rest of her words were muffled by Lucas's hand, who gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, should we go inside? It's a little cold out here."

Haley's curiosity about what Elise was saying was overcome by the cold. "Yes," she said. "I'm freezing out here."

They made it past the hallway, where Haley very reluctantly parted with her coat, and into the family room where they were warmly greeted by Lucas's parent.

"Brooke, I'm glad you could make it," Karen said. She then turned to Haley, "You must be Haley. Brooke has told me a lot about you."

Haley fought the urge to apologize for her outfit. She feared the little black dress made her seem like she was on a hunt for a man – which was completely inappropriate since the only ones in attendance was Karen's husband and Karen's son. "Thank you for inviting me. Your home is beautiful. Brooke told me that you designed everything yourself?"

"Well, with a lot of help from Lucas. We redecorated when Lucas was about eighteen months old, and I used to ask for his opinion."

Keith laughed. "Oh yeah, I remember she'd hold up different pieces of fabric and ask which one he liked better. Except his vocabulary was limited to 'goo' and 'dada'."

"But he was very good at gesturing" Karen affectionately pinched Lucas's cheeks, "weren't you, baby?"

"Mom!" Lucas exclaimed, quickly turning red.

"Aww," Brooke teased. "You're blushing! That's so cute."

"Hear that, Luke?" Another voice said from the hallway. "Your girlfriend thinks you're as _cute as a button_."

Haley's breath caught in her throat when the figure became visible: all six-feet of him. She took in the dark hair that was wet from melting flecks of snow, and the well-muscled body clothed in jeans and a black sports jacket. After greeting the others in the room, his eyes lazily settled on her and he grinned.

Haley tried to inconspicuously tug her dress up at the top and down at the bottom. First chance she got, she was going to _kill _Brooke.

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As it happened, her first chance came only five minutes later. It came about when she grabbed Brooke's arm – missing her originally target, the hair, by mere inches – and excused them to the closest bathroom.

"Brooke. I am going to kill you." Haley said.

"I know, don't you just love me?" Brooke sighed happily. "You're in a fabulous dress and four-inch heels, there's a really hot guy who is totally checking you out… This story is going to have a happy ending."

Haley sighs. "Is that why I'm wearing this? If you had just told me you were trying to set me up with someone, I wouldn't have liked it, but I would've made an effort…" _To choose something less revealing_, Haley added inwardly.

"But if you had told me you were trying to set me up with Nathan Scott, I would've spent Christmas with Taylor and Chris."

"You hate Chris. And Taylor is not Christmas material unless you don't plan on remembering it."

"Why are you telling me things I already know?"

"Nathan is a great guy, Haley, just give him a chance. I know you'll hit it off. After all, when have my plans ever failed?"

Haley knew better than to touch the question posed. "I gave him many chances in high school. I know what he's like."

That gave Brooke pause. "Uh… I don't know what TV show you're watching, Hales, but you and Nathan did not go to high school together."

Haley sighed. "Remember those four or five weeks when my parents had the great idea to ship off to North Carolina?"

"Yeah?"

"We stayed in a town called Tree Hill."

"Yeah?"

"I went to school there."

"Oh. That's funny, Nathan never mentioned that."

"Are you seriously telling me that you and Nathan have deep and meaningful conversations? Or conversations at all?"

Brooke expertly sidestepped the question. "You know what? This is a sign. You were high school sweethearts… tragically torn apart… never able to forget each other… and now fate has brought you back together… isn't that what all great love stories are made of?"

"Uh, it's not like we dated or anything. I was his tutor."

"Even better! He was one of your first students, the one who inspired you, the one who made you want to become a teacher…"

"I stopped tutoring for three months after that."

"Because you were so heartbroken about being tragically torn apart…"

Haley stared at her cousin: Brooke-the-Romantic, stars in her eyes. Who would have guessed?

"I give up." She said. "Let's just go and have some turkey."

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_**to be continued...**_


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